SPECIAL ISSUE: IT AND INNOVATION KNOWLEDGE REUSE FOR CUSTOMIZATION: METAMODELS IN AN OPEN DESIGN COMMUNITY FOR 3D PRINTING1 Harris Kyriakou IESE Business School, Av. Pearson 21, 08034 Barcelona, SPAIN {
[email protected]) Jeffrey V. Nickerson and Gaurav Sabnis Stevens Institute of Technology, Castle Point on Hudson, Hoboken, NJ 07030 U.S.A. {
[email protected]} {
[email protected]} Theories of knowledge reuse posit two distinct processes: reuse for replication and reuse for innovation. We identify another distinct process, reuse for customization. Reuse for customization is a process in which designers manipulate the parameters of metamodels to produce models that fulfill their personal needs. We test hypotheses about reuse for customization in Thingiverse, a community of designers that shares files for three-dimensional printing. 3D metamodels are reused more often than the 3D models they generate. The reuse of metamodels is amplified when the metamodels are created by designers with greater community experience. Metamodels make the community’s design knowledge available for reuse for customization—or further extension of the metamodels, a kind of reuse for innovation. Keywords: Knowledge reuse, metamodels, digital innovation, customization, parametric design, online com- munities, open source, software reuse, Thingiverse, 3D printing Introduction1 chased by consumers (Gebler et al. 2014; Gershenfeld 2008; Raasch et al. 2009). Three-dimensional printing technology makes it possible to create physical objects by transforming digital files. This An important way that 3D printing technology is being dif- technology has the potential to revolutionize supply chains, fused to consumers is through reuse of previously created because experts and novices alike can design, customize, and designs.